Intimidating Chuckle
by Shadow Tails05
Summary: Michi has been having some problems. Every time she goes near Hyuuga Neji, her heartbeat increases and she can't concentrate. The only thing keeping Michi from embracing her new found love is his cocky chuckle that seems to mock her. Reader is Michi.


Basic Information: You're are a female, seventeen year old, Leaf Shinobi named Fukuyama Michi. You have a headstrong, masculine personality; however, you often pretend to be the helpless, damsel in distress so that people are not offended by your bold attitude. You are slightly above average in the skill department and you're best at taijustu, so it's only expected that you are ranked a Chunin. On more than one occasion, you have been told you have an attractive face, but your chest and rear, or lack thereof, balance it out, leaving you with only average looks. Your intelligence is nothing special. You can pass a pop quiz with a decent grade, but you will not be receiving any rewards. You know how to mingle, but you prefer not to. Overall, you are a six on the scale of ten. As for details on appearances, I leave that to the reader. Give your imagination a workout.

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><p>"Screw the world." That is all your dried out mouth can muster as you slump down onto an old stool at the local tea shop in order to avoid the blistering heat."This heat is ridiculous! It's like the devil himself has walked into the village." You hear an old lady down the row say to her husband. All you can do is nod in agreement as you call for a glass of water from the server.<p>

With nothing to do, you begin to tap your fingers on the counter but soon stop when a man next to you clears his throat and practically chokes you with his gaze. Smiling sheepishly, you turn the other direction and find Hyuuga Hinata sipping on an ice tea a few seats down from you.

You're not very acquainted with Hinata. Actually, it'd be more accurate to say that you've never spoken to her in your life. Her nervous and weak personality irks you to some extent, but you treat her with respect because you know that she is trying. Everyone knows she is trying. Despite your limited knowledge of her, for the last couple of months, you have kept constant tabs on her older cousin, Hyuuga Neji. Recently, you have found that his presence makes your heartbeat increase, thus causing the blood to rush to your head, resulting in the deep shade of pink to wash over your face. You are eventually forced make up some irrational and poorly thought out lie like having to go see your sick grandmother, who has been dead for years, and sprint out of the room covering your face like an idiot. That has happened at least three times in the last month. Yes, you know him very well. At first you suspected him to have the use of a jutsu that made you do these foolish things, and then, after consulting multiple people, without revealing any names, you came to the conclusion that you have 'feelings' for this young man.

Snapping out of your thinking, you reach for your refreshing water that has just arrived and drink it with passion. "Ah! That hit the spot!" You exclaim in satisfactory. You'd been dying for one of these for all day. Glancing in the direction of Hinata, you happen to make eye contact with her and quickly try to strike up small talk. "Erm, Hi. You're Hyuuga Hinata, right?" Letting out an extra feminine laugh as not to scare the poor thing. She replies with a shy nod but doesn't say anything. You flinch. _'Okay. Round two.' _"It's pretty hot out there isn't it? Can't wait until summer is over." You add with a wide, friendly smile. Returning your smile with less cheer, Hinata nervously nods and drinks more of her tea. _'One more time. This time I'll avoid yes-and-no questions.' _You think eagerly to yourself. "So have you had any miss-" You are interrupted by a shadow dashing between you and Hinata.

"Hinata! There you are!" The loud and exuberant Uzumaki Naruto shouts with unnecessary excitement. "Neji was looking for you! Somethin' 'bout your dad needing you. Whatever, he's heading this way now!" He finishes with an over the top grin, and poor Hinata barely stays balanced on her stool.

At the news of Neji's voyage to your current location, you quickly reach into your pocket and grab out whatever feels like enough to cover the tab. Muttering a quick 'Keep the change', you hop off of your stool, while trying to look casual, and practically sprint out the door. A quick turn to your right almost sends you falling on your face, but you catch your balance and speed down the road. After a couple of minutes, relief begins to set in your stomach and you silently cheer to yourself,_ 'I probably just set a world record!' _

You make another sharp right around the grocery store across the road from your house and barely dodge a collision with a tall, broad-shouldered man. "Oh! Sorry! Excu-" Freezing, your heartbeat speeds up and your mouth can't seem to keep up with your scrambled thoughts. "Oh! N-Neji. Haha! Uh, hi! Whew! It sure is hot out here! Haha! I, uh, I heard you were looking for Hinata. You know, your cousin. Oh, well, of course you know she is your cousin. Haha!" Fidgeting and giggling uncontrollably, you vow to drown yourself as soon as you get home. After a small period of silence, you continue, "Well, she's over there!" You point in the direction you just came from. You begin shuffle towards your house. "I'd show you exactly where, but I, uh, I have to, uhhh, I have to pee! Haha!" _'Oh fuck.' _Your face burns and you pray it's because of the heat. You turn and make a mad dash for your house, leaving a slightly confused Neji in your wake.

You wake up the next morning feeling like total crap. Of course, that's only to be expected from your night of cursing yourself to death, smashing your skull against random solid objects, and screaming nonsense to your countless stuffed animals.

_'How could you say you had to pee?' _you panic, recalling yesterday's tragedy._ 'Of all the things you could've said! Now he thinks you're a creepy pervert who gets off on telling people your private business!' _Dying from your shame, you lay back down and contemplate skipping out on productiveness for the day. You almost make up your mind when you hear knocking at your door. Groaning, you look at your clock - Eleven am. You figured someone would come knocking on your door. You shout an exhausted 'Coming' as you throw on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts and drag your depressed body to the door.

_'I wonder who it is?'_ You wonder. You try opening the door only to find that it's stuck. You try pulling again, in case you didn't pull hard enough the first time but end with the same result. "The hell.." You mutter and pull one more time with all your might. The person on the other side of the problematic door knocks a second time with more urgency. "I'm trying! Calm the hell down!" You shout through the door. Already in a bad mood and losing your patience you kick it with burning rage. From the other side you hear a low, obviously male, muffled voice, "Did you try the lock?" Consumed with irritation, you shout back, "Of course I tried the fu-" You stop as you realize that you did not, in fact, unlock the door. Your face burns with embarrassment as you unlock the door and slowly open it, hiding your face with shame.

You hear a low chuckle and you're upset again. _'Who does this asshole think he's laughing at?' _you angrily think. Snapping your head up, and losing all feelings of anger, you see an overly amused Hyuuga Neji standing at your doorstep. Not noticing your shocked state, he clears his throat and begins speaking, "Fukuyama Michi, correct? The Hokage sent me to inform you that there will me a mandatory briefing tomorrow morning at eight o' clock, sharp." After a second of soaking in this information, you choke out a feeble 'Okay'. He continues, "I'm sure you're wondering why you were not simply sent a message or letter of this matter, correct?" You manage a simple-minded nod. You can barely hear him over all the blood rushing in your ears. Neji gives you a unsure nod and keeps speaking, "Right. Well, I volunteered to deliver the message to you in person. After yesterday's encounter, I came to the realization that you have been using illogical excuses to avoid me. Do you mind explaining to me what it is, exactly, that you have against me?" He finishes with folded arms an a look of superiority.

You try to sort out the situation in your head and find the task extremely difficult. "I, uh, I d-don't have anything a-against you, N-Neji." You babble. "Th-thanks for the message. Really. I appreciate it." Your ears are on fire and you bow your head to avoid showing such an embarrassing face. Remembering that you are in just a T-shirt and shorts, you panic._ 'Oh sweet Jesus! I look like a hobo!' _You rack your brain for an excuse to get him to leave. "Uh, it was really great s-speaking with you, Neji, but I'm afraid I have to leave." You begin politely closing the door. A frown has now formed on his face as he answers, "Right. Goodbye, then; we **will** be continuing this matter another time, Fukuyama."

You close the door and lean against it to catch your breath; you are extremely exhausted. "That guy," you sigh "he is too much."

You spent the rest of the day wandering around the same shops in fear that Neji might go back to your house. After hours of walking in circles and suspicious stares, you stop and rest at a park bench within the forest._ 'Great. Now Neji thinks I hate him and the villagers thinks I'm a kidnapper.' _You solemnly think to yourself. You close your eyes and relax on the bench. The weather feels a lot better compared to the day before; it eases your tension.

The relaxing feeling of the cool breeze and the warm sun gets you to forget your troubles and, unfortunately, let your guard down.

The next thing you realize, your name is being called and you are gently being shaken awake. Dazed, you look up to the sky and see darkness and small specks of light. _'Oh fuck.' _There's a low, and very familiar, chuckle above you and suddenly your senses are heightened and your curiosity is peaked. "N-Neji? What are you doing out here? What time is it?" A crooked half smile smears across his face and he answers you calmly, "I should probably be asking you all of those questions. It is sometime around seven o' clo-" "At night?" you spring up from your seat on the bench and barely catch your balance. Neji scowls but continues, "Yes. At night. I was on night patrol when I found you sleeping here like some homeless person." Your face goes red and you can't seem to calm your heartbeat.

"Now would be the perfect time for you to start explaining your behavior towards me, Fukuyama." Your mind draws a blank and you can't seem to come up with any excuse as to why you need to leave. Swallowing seems to take deep concentration and you feel as if you're falling out of the sky. "Um. Well, I..." You stutter and can feel your palms getting sweaty. You attempt to steal a peak in Neji's direction but flinch when you make eye contact with his glare.

Neji's expression becomes less harsh when he witnesses your frightened behavior. "Fukuyama Michi," He begins, "you wouldn't happen to be afraid of me, would you?" He asks. Your head snaps up at his question and your heart melts when you witness the pained look on his face. "No!" You protest with confidence. "I'm not scared of you. I'm not mad at you. I have nothing against you either. It's just.." You trail off. _'There's no way I am going to say it out loud.' _You lift your head when you realize your looking at the ground again and you find that Neji is closer to you than he was before. "It has dawned on me that your face turns a brilliant shade of magenta whenever I come near you." Neji's voice is low and seductive, at least to you it is. You can feel his cool breath on your skin as his perfect lips move to pronounce his words. Your face gets hotter and you've lost any form of confidence that you had before. You unconsciously take a step back and fall onto the bench. "N-N-Neji. Y-You're kind of close. Haha." Your nervous laugh is back and you can't seem to focus on anything other than the Jounin in front of you.

Resisting the urge to stroke his smooth face, you look at your lap to reorganize your thoughts. Another one of his deep chuckles escapes from his lips and he starts to whisper your worst fears: "A little bird told me that you have 'feelings' for someone. Care to elaborate on this rumor?" Your racing heart suddenly comes to a complete stop. "I d-don't know what you're t-talking about." Your voice cracks and you shift your eyes for something to focus on. A sly smile is now plastered across his face, and Neji looks as if he's having the time of his life. "Hmm? Are you sure? This source seems to be pretty close to you." The Hyuuga is now sitting dangerously close to you on the bench. Your attempt to find another focus is shattered when Neji's pale hand gently grabs your chin and turns your head to look directly at him.

Your vision feels hazy and you feel as if you're floating on air. However, somewhere in your confusion, you hear that same arrogant chuckle and rage boils within your blood._ 'This asshole is mocking me!' _All of the haze clears and you can clearly see Hyuuga Neji with that cocky smirk on his face. Filled with rage, you swat his deceiving hand from your face and stand up. Defiant, you turn to Neji with a vicious glare. "I don't know what you find so funny, Hyuuga." You move closer so that your standing over him, "Frankly, I didn't think you were one to spread rumors, let alone listen to them. I certainly didn't expect that from the great Hyuuga Neji." You let out a mocking laugh. "Don't get a bloated ego just because you have some shameful little girls falling at your feet; I would definitely never go for the likes of you." Feeling satisfied, you turn the other direction, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be getting home. Goodbye, Hyuuga." Proudly, you began walking home, not even bothering to look at the man behind you.

The next morning you wake up to the blaring sound of your alarm. Your head is pounding and you want to smash it, but you remember that you set it to wake you up for the briefing at eight. The thought of the meeting reminds you of Neji's unexpected visit to your home and then to you exploding at him the night before. Your stomach sinks and you smother yourself with the pillow next to you. _'I can't believe I did that! Now __**he**__ hates __**me**__!' _Your alarm is still going and you figure it's best to just suck it up and move on with your day.

You've never gotten dressed so slowly in your life; every two minutes a long, depressing sigh escapes your lips, followed by a hair pulling or object smashing fit.

About an hour later you leave your house poorly dressed and emotionally wrecked. Within 20 minutes you arrive at the designated area with five minutes to spare. You scan the room for an empty, secluded spot and feel your chest explode when you spot Neji standing next to a couple of unfamiliar shinobi. Automatically, you look for a spot in the opposite direction and find one almost immediately.

Once in a secluded area, you begin analyzing your options: 1) Apologize and hope he somehow forgives you, but that would mean throwing away your pride and admitting defeat. 2) Give up on ever reconciling and move on with your life but that would mean living with the regret of never trying. Or 3) Wait for Neji to apologize to you, but you'd most likely be waiting for the rest of your life. No matter how you looked at it, apologizing was the best option. However, you were not quite ready to sacrifice your ego just to make his bigger.

You were so deep in your thoughts that you didn't realize that the meeting had already begun. You decided to worry about your predicament with Neji later and focus on the important business now. Being a Shinobi came before personal matters. Before fully paying attention to the speaker, you decided to get one last glimpse of Neji; that was a mistake. As soon as you looked at him, you caught his deadly gaze. He must have been glaring at you this whole time. The Hyuuga turned his head to face the older woman instructing the group of Shinobi and didn't turn back for the rest of the briefing.

The meeting finally ends and as the small crowd is leaving, you look for Neji. When you don't see him you give up and begin leaving. It takes you longer to leave than you expected because everyone seems to be in a talking mood. You try to be as polite as possible without giving any hints that you wish to stay and talk. Eventually you make it to the exit and your mood spikes for the better.

"Yes! Freedom!" You cheer. The good whether from yesterday seemed to have carried over, so you feel like having lunch outside. Your mind is made up and you've decided to eat ramen. _'That should keep me in a good mood.' _Not even ten seconds later, a dark cloud covers your brightly shining sun.

"Fukuyama, we need to talk." The source of all your troubles appears behind you before you have a chance to sense his presence. "N-Neji!" Once again, your heart is racing uncontrollably and you have a heard time catching your breath. Before you realize what's going on, Neji has a firm grip on your arm and is pulling you through unknown territory. "Where are we going?" Irritation rises when you don't receive an answer. Yanking your arm back, you lose your balance but immediately regain your composure. With heat, you repeat your question, "I asked you, where are we going?" Glaring at Neji's back, you watch the rise and fall of his back muscles are he calmly breathes in and out. Still no reply. "Answer me!" Your voice cracks from desperation; you just want an answer.

Slowly, he turns a quarter circle, as to not look directly at you, and opens his mouth to speak, "I am taking you to a more secluded area." Mild surprise crosses your face but is soon replaced with suspicion. _'Dear god he's going to murder me.'_ You cautiously question him, "Why? Where exactly were you taking me?" He looks at you for a second and sighs. A crooked smile appears on his face and suddenly he's amused. "You know, Fukuyama, you are extremely emotional." Heat consumes your face. "I- I am not! Hey! Don't change the subject!" Your anger has disappeared and you suddenly feel relieved. _'He doesn't seem upset about last night.'_ As if he read your mind, Neji announces, "I am, in fact, offended by your words from last night." You freeze. 'Shit.' He continues, "However, for whatever reason, you were obviously more insulted than I. Therefore, I apologize." He finishes facing directly towards you and with his head low in a bow.

It takes you a couple of minutes to digest the scenario in front of you. _'Did __**he **__just apologize __**me **__to? That's impossible. He must be plotting something.'_ Before you can open your mouth to speak, Neji starts once again, "Now would be the perfect time for you to apologize to me as well." _'I knew it.'_

You feel your shoulders slump. "I don't understand you at all!" Your knees give out and you sit exactly where you are standing. "First you question me about why I avoid you, then you mock me for liking you, and then you apologize and expect an apology from me! Even though it was clearly your fault!" Surprise dominates Neji's face. "Pardon? I mocked you for liking me? I don't remember doing such a thing." You feel agitation coming to rise. "Yes you did! Last night, when you said that a little chicken told you I had feelings for someone. You obviously knew it was you!" You're on your feet again and stepping closer to him.

Surprise doesn't stay on Neji's face for long. The cocky chuckle is back and Neji's never looked more amused in his life. "Fukuyama, it seems that you have misunderstood-" "The hell I did!" You explode. He lifts his hands up in defense and continues, "For one, I said 'Little Bird', not little chicken." Your faces flares with heat and you can feel it all the way to your ears. "Second, I had no idea that the person you liked was me. I had simply heard that you liked **someone**."

Your jaw drops as horror dawns on you. _'Oh sweet Jesus. I just confessed my love __**for**__ Neji __**to**__ Neji!'_ Your palms start to feel clammy and your knees lose any ability to support your weight. "Y-You're lying." You back yourself up into a brick wall for support. In an instant, Neji is front of you with a sly smile plastered on his face. He's close enough for you to really see the height difference between you both. "This is quite the surprise. If I recall correctly, didn't you say that you would never go for the likes of me?" You can no longer feel your face through the burning embarrassment as you try to squeak out a retaliation. "Sh-Shut up!" You are overly aware of Neji's close proximity.

For the first time you notice that you are both standing in a shallow alleyway between two small shops. If people cared enough to look in, they could easily see your positions. You look at either side of you to check to see if anyone has spotted the two of you.

Your survey of the area is interrupted when you feel Neji's warm breath on your ear. "It seems that you really do have feelings for me, Fukuyama." You feel like you're suffocating and try to push him away. The tears are welling up but you shut your eyes tightly to keep them from falling. "Don't mock me! If all you're going to do is laugh at me, then just leave!" You look at your feet to hide your watering eyes; you hate this feeling.

There's a low grunt and Neji commands you to look at him, but you refuse to face him. Neji's large, pale hand gently grips your chin and lifts your head to meet his eyes. "I said look at me." You try to shift your eyes but he is so close that all you can see is him. "I am not, any way, mocking you. Don't think that." You don't want to hear him and try to push him away with your hands; you fail miserably. In a swift motion, Neji grabs both of your wrists with his other hand and holds them firmly in between both of you. You struggle to set your hands free, but you are no match for the Jounin. "Listen to me. Regardless of what you may think, I do not insult women because of their love interests." You're still being forced to look into his deep, grey eyes. For a quick second, Neji breaks your locked gaze, but quickly returns with just as much intensity. "I can't give you an answer right now," Your heart breaks and you can feel the tears about to over flow. You shut your eyes and pray that this wasn't happening; you'd rather he never found out.

You're taken by surprise when you feel warm air, followed by soft, smooth lips on your forehead. Opening your eyes to look at Neji, a tear escapes and solemnly streams down your cheek. "Don't-" Neji starts and he releases your chin to wipe the tear away. "I can not accept your feelings when I, myself, do not know them. Trust me when I say that I will sincerely consider your confession and give you an answer that I know is true."

Unable to respond, you meekly nod your head in agreement. A small smile creeps onto Neji's face as he lets your hands go and takes a step back. "Would you like me to walk you home?" He offers with a hand extended towards you. Wiping your eyes of any remaining tears you let out a deep sigh. Calming yourself you take a deep breath and reply with a strong 'Sure'. A chuckle is released from his lips, you gently grab his hand, and you know that he will stay true to his words.

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><p><strong>This is, actually, my first fanfic. Ever. I swear. ._. I hate myself for making Neji so damn perfect. I want him. So badly. I usually hate stories with this type of ending! It angers me! So I was thinking of making a chapter two for this! Where Neji gives Michi an answer! Obviously more is going to occur in order for that to happen. I hope I don't go brain dead and never deliver. ._.<strong>


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